Best Hearing Aids as of July 2024

An objective look at the top-performing prescription hearing aids as of July 2024

The web is chock-full of “expert hearing aid reviews,” and unfortunately the majority of these reviews are affiliate links (money-making schemes), and aren’t written by true subject matter experts in the hearing aid industry.

In this review of the best prescription hearing aids of 2024, we attempt to cut through the noise (pardon the bad pun), and get you some unique insight into what we think are truly the best products out on the market currently.

How we rate hearing aids

If you’re new to ZipHearing and how we rate hearing aids, you might be interested in reading our our hearing aid rating algorithm.

In short, we look at a few different criteria:

Return rates: The % of customers who return the hearing aid during their 45 day trial for a 100% refund.
Sales popularity: How popular the hearing aid is nationwide, according to our internal sales data.
User reviews: On a scale of 1-5, how users rate the hearing aid.
Age of the product: How old the hearing aid is.

Taking all of the above into consideration (with the exception of winner #4 below), here are what we consider the top 4 prescription hearing aids as of July 2024.

1. Oticon Intent

Since its release in February 2024, Oticon Intent has held the #1 spot firmly.

It's on track to have the lowest-return rate of any hearing aid we've ever sold, and has earned a 4.57 rating based on 30 real user reviews, which is our highest-rated product out of everything on the market currently.

Oticon Intent miniRITE R in the honey beige color

What makes it special?

Oticon Intent is the world's first hearing aid with user-intent sensors, using 4D Sensor technology to detect and adapt to users' listening intentions.

This innovative hearing aid enhances speech clarity and personalization by monitoring head and body movements to understand and respond to the user's desired focus in various listening environments.

Oticon Intent offers a discreet design, long battery life, and modern connectivity options, including compatibility with iPhone and select Android devices.

Here's what a recent ZipHearing customer had to say about his experience with Oticon Intent—

I’m no longer as nervous about going into restaurants, to receptions and the like. The feature allowing the aids to focus on a individual in a group when you turn your head as they join the conversation feels as if I’m hearing them far better than with my older versions of Oticon aids.

Eliot in Virginia

Eliot praises the Oticon Intent hearing aids, which he's used for three months. He highlights the significant improvement in speech clarity, especially in noisy environments like restaurants. He also appreciates the music program and finds the battery life satisfactory. Overall, he recommends trying out the Oticon Intent for its enhanced speech clarity.

2. Phonak Audéo Lumity Life

Phonak's latest flagship family of hearing aids is called Phonak Audéo Lumity.

Audéo Lumity actually comes in 7 different form factors or "models", but the one we think deservess the praise in this post is the Life model.

You might also see it written as Audéo Lumity RL, as that's Phonak's technical name for the model.

Right now Audéo Lumity Life is the single least returned hearing aid out of everything we sell, with a return rate of just 9.2%, compared to the average of 14%.

Explore the great outdoors with confidence: Phonak Audéo Life™ hearing aids, designed to be waterproof for fresh, salt, and pool water, ensure clear communication on every adventure.

What makes it special?

This model stands out from other Audéo Lumity models, and all other models on the market, period, for being...waterproof!

This model is designed to be waterproof, surpassing the IP68 rating, which means it can withstand submersion in fresh water, salt water, and pool water, providing durability and reliability for users in various conditions.

In addition, all Audéo Lumity models continue to be the #1 choice for users interested in Bluetooth connectivity to their smartphones, as Phonak hearing aids still lead the industry in connectivity to the widest number of devices.

Tom, an engine builder with significant hearing loss, found Phonak Audéo Lumity Life 90 hearing aids superior after disappointing experiences with other brands. He praises their performance, rechargeability, and sweat-resistant design, describing the improvement as life-changing. Tom highly recommends Phonak for its natural sound quality and user-friendly features.

3. ReSound Nexia

ReSound Nexia is ReSound's newest line of hearing aids designed for people with mild to profound hearing loss.

Nexia truly offers something for everyone, with 9 different styles available, ranging from discreet completely-in-canal devices, to powerful behind-the-ear devices.

Most users are buying the microRIE style shown below, due to its discreet style and top-rated sound quality in noisy environments.

ReSound Nexia microRIE hearing aids in the popular Sparkling Silver color

What makes it special?

There's a lot to like about ReSound Nexia.

First, and most importantly, and as evidenced in the quote and review video below, ReSound has made significant improvements in performance in background noise.

ReSound Nexia's use of a 4-microphone binaural beamformer and omni-directional listening has vastly improved access to speech from all directions and enables people to automatically hear their best across all listening situations

Nexia is also one of the only hearing aids on the market right now that is equipped with the next generation of Bluetooth, LE Audio.

This new Bluetooth standard is going to offer improved battery life, streaming sound quality, and a cool feature called Auracast, explained in this video.

In addition to the above, ReSound has somehow managed to make all of this available in their smallest rechargeable hearing aid yet, the microRIE style (pictured above).

I was genuinely impressed right off the bat...The 'hear in noise' function is mindblowing. I don't say this lightly.

Nick L., hearing aid user and reviewer

Nick praises the Resound Nexia 9 hearing aids for their advanced technology and effectiveness in noisy environments. They excel in environmental recognition, direct audio streaming, and seamless iPhone connectivity. Despite minor issues with the charging case and button functionality, he highly recommends them for their noise reduction and battery life, calling them life-changing.

4. Starkey Signature Series

Admittedly, putting Starkey Signature Series here isn't a data-driven placement.

It only came out in March of 2024, so there's just not enough data on this hearing aid yet, but we put it here because of the unique offering it brings to the market.

We do think that in the coming months the data is likely to point to this being one of the best in-ear hearing aids on the market.

Available in 3 different in-ear styles, the unit pictured above is the industry's first rechargeable completely-in-canal custom hearing aid.

What makes it special?

It's both in-the-ear and rechargeable, but that doesn't make it particular noteworthy.

Its size however, does.

Starkey Signature Series is the world's first custom, in-ear, completely-in-canal style, rechargeable hearing aid.

It lasts up to 38 hours on a single charge, which is a remarkable feat for such a small hearing aid.

It also has an impressive IP 68 rating, making it among the most waterproof hearing aids on the market.

Nick reviews the Starkey Signature Series hearing aids, highlighting their stealthy design and customized fit. Despite lacking Bluetooth and advanced app features, he praises their excellent sound quality, rechargeability, and waterproof nature. Nick recommends these hearing aids for those seeking discretion and simplicity without the need for phone connectivity.

Coming soon

We've just received some exciting news that in the coming months Phonak is going to be releasing a new flagship hearing aid!

We expect this to be a new receiver-in-canal style hearing aid, which would improve upon Phonak's current receiver-in-canal style hearing aid, Audeo Lumity.

We don't know much about this new model just yet, but subscribe to our YouTube channel and you'll be the first to know!

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